Lufthansa flying in summer 2010 to 204 destinations in 81 countries

East Meadow, NY, March 11, 2010 — In the upcoming summer flight schedule, Lufthansa will serve an almost unchanged number of destinations with nearly the same number of flights as in the previous year. Seating capacity will be slightly higher. On average, Lufthansa will operate 12,853 weekly flights compared with 12,860 during the last summer schedule. Despite a smaller fleet, available seating capacity is higher than the previous year’s level due to successive fleet renewal and the replacement of older aircraft by larger types.

This effect is evident in both the continental and intercontinental fleet. Overall capacity (available seat-kilometers) is up year-on-year by 3.6 percent. Included in the calculation are the planned services with the Airbus A380, which will begin scheduled flights with Lufthansa in June this year.

“More seats with roughly the same number of flights – we are achieving that and better productivity with larger, more modern aircraft. Simultaneously, we are moving a step closer to our goal of improving our results sustainably by one billion Euros by the end of 2011,” said Lufthansa Executive Vice President Marketing and Sales Thierry Antinori. The summer timetable is valid from Sunday, March 28, to Saturday, October 30, 2010.

Lufthansa will serve 204 destinations in 81 countries in the summer timetable (prior year: 206 destinations in 78 countries). Six newcomers in the flight schedule are Rostock-Laage/Germany; Bari and Palermo/Italy, Zadar/Croatia, Chisinau/Moldova and Tashkent/Uzbekistan. Services in Europe have been marginally reduced to 11,445 weekly flights to German and European destinations (previous year: 11,519 flights). In contrast, flights in the long-haul, intercontinental network will increase to a weekly 1,408 flights (previous year: 1,341 flights weekly).

“With more than 200 destinations this summer, including six newcomers, we are offering passengers an attractive timetable of outstanding quality with respect to flight connections,” said Thierry Antinori. “We have adapted flight schedules to demand, notably on European routes. However, customers affected by the cuts can in most cases utilize alternative connections, which we offer with partners. We are also adding more than a dozen new connections in Europe, enabling our passengers to benefit from more non-stop flights.”

Tashkent new long-haul destination

Lufthansa has included a new destination in a virtually unchanged timetable of flights in the long-haul network. Starting on March 28, the airline will operate thrice-weekly flights with its PrivatAir partner from Munich to Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan. Furthermore, thrice-weekly flights with an Airbus A330 will be resumed from Miami to Munich in addition to the existing connections to Frankfurt and Düsseldorf. Non-stop flights from Munich to Riyadh in Saudi Arabia will be increased from two to three times per week, alongside the daily flight from Frankfurt. Lufthansa is also considering several new flight connections to Iraq (Baghdad, Erbil). More details on flight times and fares together with the start of bookings for the new connections will be disclosed at a later date.

One of the highlights in the summer flight schedule is Lufthansa’s inaugural services with the Airbus A380. According to current planning, the world’s biggest passenger aircraft will commence scheduled flights in the airline’s intercontinental route network in June 2010. The first A380 destinations will be named in the beginning of April. Bookings can then start for the first flights with the new Lufthansa flagship.

15 new connections in Europe

Lufthansa has optimized its timetable in Germany and Europe with four new destinations and 15 additional connections. Daily flights from the Munich hub to Chisinau, the capital of Moldova in south-eastern Europe, will be available from April 22. Also new in the timetable are Rostock as well as Zadar and Bari on the Adriatic. These destinations will be served non-stop from Munich – Bari with daily service, Zadar with flights on Saturdays and Rostock with flights on Saturdays and Sundays.

Some European destinations will be served in summer with flights from further German airports in addition to the existing connections. Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, for example, will be served for the first time non-stop from Munich. The number of non-stop connections from Düsseldorf has been increased by a further six: Athens/Greece, Edinburgh/Great Britain, Gdansk/Poland, Dubrovnik/Croatia, Lisbon/Portugal and Naples/Italy. In the summer timetable, passengers can fly non-stop from Stuttgart to Athens and Manchester/UK. Daily flights are also available between Dresden and Milan/Malpensa in northern Italy. Naples, Italy’s third largest city, will be served daily from Frankfurt along with connections from Düsseldorf, Munich and Milan.

Lufthansa Italia is expanding its route network out of Milan/-Malpensa with summer flights to Warsaw and Stockholm as well as the Italian destinations of Palermo (new in the timetable) and Olbia. All in all, the Milan-based carrier will then be offering 172 weekly flights to 13 destinations in Italy and Europe.

For economic reasons, Lufthansa has in recent months discontinued connections to Balaton/Hungary; Bern/Switzerland (henceforth as code-share destination); Hof-Plauen (henceforth as code-share destination); Rønne/Denmark as well as the intra-Asian tag-flight from Seoul/South-Korea to Shenyang/China.

The Lufthansa Group airlines – Austrian Airlines, bmi, Brussels Airlines and SWISS – will also commence their summer flight schedules on March 28. Together with Lufthansa, all five airlines will be serving 274 destinations in 104 countries on four continents from their hubs at Brussels, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, London-Heathrow, Munich and Zurich with their own as well as
numerous code-share flights.

New destinations in Lufthansa summer timetable 2010

· Munich – Tashkent 3x /weekly (Tu, Th, Su)

· Munich – Chisinau daily

· Munich – Rostock/Laage 2x /weekly (Sa, So)

· Munich – Zadar 1x /weekly (Sa)

· Munich – Bari daily

· Milan/Malpensa – Palermo daily

About Lufthansa

One of the world’s largest and most prestigious airlines, Lufthansa flies to 191 destinations in 78 countries, with hubs in Frankfurt, Munich, and with its recent acquisition of Austrian Airlines and SWISS – Vienna and Zurich. From its 22 North American gateways, Lufthansa serves over 400 destinations in more than 100 countries. An industry innovator, the airline has long been committed to environmental care and sustainability, operating the most technically-advanced and fuel-efficient fleet in the world. Its long-haul fleet to and from North America includes the Boeing 747-400, as well as the Airbus A340-600, A340-300 and A330-300. Currently, Lufthansa has 146 aircraft worth about $19 billion on order. It will be the largest European operator of the A380 and is also the launch customer for the new Boeing 747-8, the industries’ two most fuel-efficient passenger aircraft. Known for its premium services, Lufthansa is currently investing $190 million in building new or upgraded lounge facilities across it worldwide network. In January 2009, it opened a three-story, U.S. flagship lounge at JFK Airport. In spring 2010, Lufthansa will re-launch its broadband wireless Internet service onboard, FlyNet.

For more information or reservations, visit www.lufthansa.com

March 11, 2010   Posted in: Airlines & Railways